"You cannot win a war without intelligence," Gantz said. "In Operation Protective Edge, there was excellent intelligence. It was accurate, it was accessible, it was terrific. It wasn't always perfect. But I am willing to fight another war with the kind of intelligence we had during Protective Edge.

"Major General Aviv Kochavi is the best head the Military Intelligence Directorate has had in the past 40 years."

"At no point in time did they request this from us or suggest this to us. Instead, they wanted us to hurt Hamas badly, ruin the tunnels, and scare the terrorists. Hamas stayed in its position of power. Forget what everyone says. They're echoing the politicians. Whatever we suggested doing - was done. And the truth is that no one has any interest in reconquering Gaza."

Regarding convicted IDF soldier Elor Azariya, Gantz said, "We are committed to morals. What happened was not okay. The IDF courts must be independent, and the Chief of Staff must lead ethically. And that's how the army should have handled it."